Training course in digital soil mapping in Vijayawada, India (27 Nov. – 1 Dec. 2017)

ISRIC – World Soil Information successfully provided a one-week training course in digital soil mapping in Vijayawada, India (27 November – 1 December 2017). Seventeen professionals in land resources management from universities, research institutes and government agencies from three Indian states participated. The training supported the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) that aims to develop precision nutrient management approaches based on state-of-the-art technologies and bringing these to scale, thereby capitalizing on science-based innovations in geospatial analytics, including digital soil mapping, for informing and improving agro-advisory for fertility recommendations.

The training included geostatistics, machine learning algorithms, spatial data preparation for digital soil mapping,  and map quality assessment. It consisted of lectures and hands-on computer exercises with the statistical software R. Towards the end of the training the participants developed maps of basic soil fertility parameters from their own, local data assets. 

The training was organized by the Andhra Pradesh Space Applications Centre, ISRIC, CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) and the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia, and hosted by the Andhra Pradesh Department of Agriculture with support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.